Make It Through
by standing-in-the-doorway
Summary: Their first fight came on the day he joined the Finer Things club.


Disclaimer: Same as always. No recognizable things are mine, blah, blah blah.

Timeline: Takes place after the episode tag in "Branch Wars."

* * *

Pam had been quiet after lunch, busying herself with faxes and shredding documents, instead of sending him silly IMs and pranking Dwight. After a silent, awkward ride home, Jim finally worked up the courage to say something.

"Are you mad at me?" She twisted her lips but didn't answer. "Why?"

"Why do you think, Jim?"

"The Finer Things thing? I apologized to Oscar and Toby and we agreed I wouldn't come back. What more do you want?"

"I want you to support me." It was a sensitive issue for her after years with Roy pushing her dreams aside. "Finer Things is important to me. It's a chance to get some culture, do something different, and better myself. And you made a mockery of it."

"How did I mock it?"

"You didn't read the book! Why did you even want to be in the club if you weren't going to read the book?" she asked, exasperation in her tone.

"Because I wanted to spend time with you!" he responded, his own level of frustration rising. "Is that so wrong? To want to spend time with my girlfriend?" Part of Pam realized how sweet his reasoning was, but the larger part was still annoyed that he embarrassed her in front of Oscar and Toby.

"It's not wrong but you should have read the book. You had a month! Maybe if you spent a little less time playing Halo and planning pranks on Dwight, you would have been able to read it. Come on, Jim! Is that all you want the rest of your life to be?" He frowned at her.

"You know, once you enjoyed pulling pranks on Dwight."

"I still do! But there's more to life than that! I'm moving forward, taking art classes, computer classes and you're doing the same thing you were doing four years ago." Her words stung, hitting a raw nerve.

"Well, I'm happy with my life Pam. I thought you were happy, too. If you're not, maybe we should rethink this thing." She looked at him in silent shock for a moment before speaking.

"Fine."

"Fine." She got out of the car and slammed the door.

Jim drove around for an hour, replaying their conversation, Pam's frustrated complaints, his own defensive words before heading back to her apartment. He knocked on the door, waiting anxiously for Pam to answer. When she did, she gave him a sad smile and stepped aside silently to let him in.

"I'm sorry." They said at the same time. Jim smiled.

"Jinx, you owe me a Coke." She smiled back, walked silently to the fridge and took out a can of soda.

"Listen, Pam, I'm really proud of everything you're doing," he said, taking the soda. "I want you to know that."

"I do."

"And I didn't mean what I said about rethinking this. I absolutely want to be in this relationship."

"Me too. Jim, I'm really happy with you, but it's hard for me to get used to things being so good you know. I'm not used to being in a supportive relationship, you know."

"I'm not Roy."

"I know." The differences between Jim and her ex-fiancé were clear in everything he did, especially at the moment since he had come back to apologize after a fight instead of getting drunk and passing out on his brother's couch. "And I'm not Karen. I don't want you to change if you don't want to. I just want you to be happy." Her voice dropped a little. "But I don't think you are. I think you want more than selling paper in Scranton." Jim was silent, but they both knew that she was right.

"What about Philly Jim? Do you want to be a sports writer? Maybe you should take a writing class. They have that at the community center."

"I don't know, Pam. You always knew you wanted to draw. I never knew what I wanted to do. That's how I ended up working at Dunder Mifflin in the first place. The only thing I wanted for so long was you." Pam felt her heart beat a little faster. For years, so many things between them had gone unsaid and it still thrilled her to hear him say these things out loud.

"Well, you have me now. And I will be here to support anything that you chose to do."

"So if I choose to kiss you right now, you'll support that decision?" he asked teasingly, a lazy smile coming over his features.

"I would," she said, thought she put her hand out to keep him back, "but I'm thinking more along the line of career goals. Think about it, Halpert. It's your future." She paused for a moment, looking deep into his eyes, grasping his hand. "It's _our_ future."

He did kiss her then, unable to resist her when she was talking about them sharing a future. Visions of a house with a terrace, a swing set in the backyard, and Pam with his ring on her finger made him overwhelmingly happy. And she was right: being a salesman at Dunder Mifflin didn't fit in with that fantasy.

"You're right," he told her when he finally pulled back.

"Of course, I am." She smirked at him. He laughed and kissed her again.

"You know, Beesly, this was our first fight."

"We seem to have made it through okay."

"I think so. And you know what that means?" She looked at him curiously for a moment before her grin widened.

"Make up sex?"

"Make up sex."


End file.
